A PLACE TO CALL HOME
by GoldAngel2
Summary: Vash returns from the battle with Knives to the last place he called home--a one shot follow up to "Blessings" and after "Under A Sky So Blue"


_Author's Note: Here's another one-shot, my take on what happened after the big battle and defeat of Knives. Another bow to Aine of Knockaine for it was her story and style that really primed the pump for me to get into Trigun, enabling me to see beyond the obvious in the characters—and now I have to collect the manga to see where Nightow-sama has taken them. Who knows, after I read the manga, there may be a multi-chapter story in me but I have to finish all my other stories first. As usual, the character, and story aren't mine, they belong to Yasuhiro Nightow and JVC._

**A PLACE TO CALL HOME**

The twin suns were beating down on the two figures in the midst of the barren wasteland between the scattered towns and cities of the arid planet known as Gunsmoke. One was prone and bleeding profusely but still alive and the other was a tall, lean blond brandishing a large Colt 45 revolver, shining silver and still smoldering. The scene was the classic shootout, with a winner and a loser, one standing and one supine when the tall gunman known as Vash the Stampede slowly lowered his arm and re-holstered it, then went over to the fallen man.

Vash knelt down and stared at his twin, Knives as he lay unconscious in the sparse grass and sand at the end of what was an oasis in the midst of nowhere. Tears pricked at his sea green orbs as he contemplated the actions that had transpired between the siblings that were so drastic and to him who loved peace, so unnecessary.

"Oh Knives," Vash said with a regretful sigh. "Why did you have to be so stubborn and push so hard. You know I would've preferred anything but this. But I had to stop you, too many have died by your hands in this quest to right the wrongs done to us at Steve's hand."

He went on, "You refused to believe that other humans weren't like him. But I know for a fact that you're wrong, Knives. You're so wrong. I've seen kindness and goodness in humans and I've seen that they are capable of both. Many believe in God and his commandment 'thou shalt not kill' and so should we."

Vash shook his tow head and said, "I know you believe we because of our species are superior but I know that superiority means we should be better than the base depths of mankind and even in nature, both the spiders and the butterflies both deserve to live to keep balance. But men have free will and some choose evil over good, even God himself allows for that. But he doesn't slay his creation because they chose the evil. Sin is sin and men reap the wages of sin which is death."

Vash again sighed deeply as he rose slowly to his feet, weary. He cast his eyes to the cloudless clime, deep, blue, and endless, making him feel as if he was all alone on this planet that had become his dwelling where he had wreaked so much havoc as he became a feared outlaw. Constantly on the run, he called no place home and even until recently, had nobody he could turn to ease his loneliness. Having lost the only person he ever really loved, Rem, Vash had given up on the seemingly unattainable, living a life with peace. And now as the tears flowed freely from his spring meadow eyes as he admitted his failure to carry out her last request.

"Oh Rem, I failed! I failed to do the last thing you asked me, to take care of Knives. He's almost dead and if he does die it'll be my fault," Vash sobbed as he shook his head in utter desolation.

_"No Vash, you're wrong. You actually saved Knives, saved him from himself,"_a sweet familiar voice spoke aloud and in amazement Vash whirled around. He blinked his eyes; once, twice as he viewed to his grief stricken and weary mind what had to be a mirage.

In the wavy heat rays he saw the long raven tresses blowing in the breeze, belonging to an angel clad in shining white. But as the apparition turned and smiled that sweet smile he knew so well, Vash realized it was Rem.

He ran to her crying, tears of joy coming like a flood. "Rem! Oh Rem, I can't believe it, you're here!" He reached to embrace her but saw with dismay that she was a spirit as he embraced air.

Rem laughed her musical tinkle as she said, _"You can't hug me, Vash but I can hug you. So just stand there."_ She encircled him in her arms and he immediately felt a soothing warmth that permeated through to his aching heart.

"Oh Rem," he breathed as he savored the comfort that came whenever in the midst of her unconditional love. The rivulets ran like a torrent from his eyes as his emotions ran wild.

_"Your task is not finished, Vash. You need to keep taking care of Knives, and guide him in the right direction. He was never really lost, just hurt and misguided."_

Vash gazed at Rem wanting to believe her but having experienced first-hand the vast evil in Knives' heart in the elaborate way he created the path of destruction that led to the final confrontation with him he could not help doubting. Yet, the still innocent part of him that wanted to believe listened as she went on

_"Vash, it's up to you. You need to be the one to show Knives the way toward the light and away from the darkness. But fear not, you will not be alone."_

Like a little boy Vash responded, "Will you be with me, Rem?"

Again she laughed her musical laugh. _"No, but I assure you, you will not be alone"_ And with those words she vanished into the wind.

"Rem!" Vash called but he found he was alone again beside Knives who was still out cold.

He turned and stared at his twin as Rem's words reverberated in his mind and especially her last statement, which admittedly baffled him.

_What was Rem talking about? How can I bring Knives into the light? And who's going to be with me?_ Vash was filled with questions as he again knelt by Knives and his mind spun, trying to figure out what to do next. Then he brightened as he pictured Rem's smile after she disappeared and then the vision changed to a certain little insurance girl who was a sweet mix of gentility and feistiness. Vash smiled as he remembered the way Meryl saved his life and especially the kiss he had shared with her last night and was then filled with a great need and desire to get back to her. Aware now of a brand new hope for his future, he suddenly was filled with resolve and a new purpose as he rose to his feet, threw away his gun and began to unbutton his coat. He doffed the garment tossing it aside and then spoke again to Rem.

"I will always believe in you, Rem and in the things you taught me. But for now on, I will listen to my own voice. But I make this promise, I will take care of Knives and try to show him the way to the light," Vash vowed. He then reached down and hoisted Knives on his shoulder and turned to head back to the village he and the girls recently called home. . .

Back there, the well was still gushing its life giving bounty of clean fresh water into the sky where it caught the sunlight and sparkled and then rained down on the ecstatic populace. Water on the desert planet was a commodity so the strike of the underground vein was a blessed event and in many ways, a miracle. Everybody was dancing in joy as the water flowed out of the well.

Meryl and Milly both were there as well, rejoicing along with the others, as Milly smiled in satisfaction, her hard work on the crew of diggers paying off. She sat with her Bernardelli Insurance partner and best friend as they watched the pandemonium.

Meryl spoke in amusement, "Look at that, Milly. It's like a holiday here." The coal haired girl smiled warmly as she added with a giggle, "I don't think the celebration will ever end."

Milly chuckled as she agreed, "Uh-huh. To hit the main underground vein has been a long time coming according to the guys I worked with. The existing well was just about dry."

"Well, I'm glad you're finished with that strenuous work, Milly," Meryl stated as she regarded her friend closely. "You really need to take care of yourself, especially now," she added meaningfully.

Milly smiled softly as she laid a hand on her slightly rounded abdomen. "Don't worry Meryl. My mother worked hard in the fields right up till her due date. Besides, I will be very careful to take care since the baby's a part of Nicholas. I know he would want me to." She then smiled significantly at her friend. "And you need to get ready for Mr. Vash's return because you know he's coming back to you."

Meryl's smile faded as she sighed dubiously, "I hope so, Milly." Then she jumped up as she declared crisply, "At any rate, we need to get some things settled like sending in our final report to the office about Vash and then deciding if we want to move on or stay here for good."

Milly nodded a troubled look on her pretty face as her eyes clouded. "Whatever."

Noticing her friend's expression the diminutive insurance girl inquired, "Did I say something wrong?"

The tall girl looked at Meryl with a forlorn face as she said, "I get so tired of traveling all the time. Couldn't we just stay here?"

Meryl replied kindly, "You really like it here, huh?"

"Uh-huh." Milly sighed and said, "I'd really like to stay, Meryl. Since helping to dig the well, I feel like we belong here. It's such a nice peaceful little town."

The small insurance girl pondered at her partner's observation as she glanced about and saw a place teeming with everyday activity, ordinary folks living their lives without any fears. Suddenly, a normal life seemed possible and extremely desirable. "Okay it's decided then," Meryl said. "When I send the report, I'll tender our resignations from Bernardelli. And then we'll have our new lives right here."

Milly's zircon eyes lit up. "Oh Meryl, do you mean it?"

Meryl smiled and nodded. "Uh-huh. We'll get permanent jobs and settle right here. And when the baby comes, I'll help you take care of it." She turned and headed for the little house and always smiling Milly followed. . . .

Later after the suns had set, Meryl stepped out on the porch and stood watching as three of the five moons rose above the horizon and headed into the indigo cloak of night sending their reflected light down on the now quiet town. The happy din from the day's bounty of the new well had died down, or at least moved indoors as people continued celebrating, signified by the muted laughter sounding from open windows. The saloon was the noisiest, where most of the workers were drinking to the success of their endeavor and she was glad she had called in sick so she could have some quiet time of thought. Besides, sensing her pensive mood, Milly had offered to cover for her, working her shift at the bar as she began to make decisions. Among other reasons she needed to make solid plans for her future.

Meryl sighed as her gentian orbs again fell on the flat wasteland at the outskirts of town and the horizon where a crimson clad blond bearing a canvas covered cross had disappeared that fateful morning. She sighed deeply to try to lessen the dull ache in her heart as she again relived Vash's departure, her vision becoming blurred with tears again as the man bearing the dubious title of Humanoid Typhoon headed to his Waterloo, the decisive battle with his brother, Knives. In her current state of missing him intensely, she could see him walking away aware that it could have been the last time she saw him again. Just the thought of that alone made her tears flow in crystalline rivulets down her cheeks. She noted with mild disgust that in the last two days she had not cried so much since she was a small girl.

"Oh Vash, where are you?" Meryl cried softly. "Are you coming back to me? Are you even still alive?"

The night wind blew and moaned in response and her eyes went to the cliff where she had seen Vash brooding the day he woke up after his battle with Legato. And she vividly remembered that was where she sat quietly beside him talking until sunrise the night before he was captured by the townsfolk. Drawn to it again Meryl then found herself walking slowly to the bluff as if hypnotized and climbed up to the top then made her way to the edge where she had sat beside Vash and sang that song, the song he said was the woman who raised him Rem's favorite. She began to hum it now as the fifth moon rose above her and she cast her eyes upward at the pink tinged orb.

Meryl was still gazing upward singing quietly as she heard a second voice join her, a sweet soprano that joined her own and blended into a duet until she glanced about expecting to see her statuesque partner but surprised to see nobody yet hearing the voice clearly.

The voice finished the verse and Meryl was amazed when the same soft soprano addressed her directly, "Hello, Meryl."

Always the very soul of practicality, Meryl replied in a polite but clipped manner. "Is there someone here?"

A musical laugh responded as the voice replied, "Not in the sense you think of being here but yes I am."

Frightened now Meryl glanced about frantically thinking she was so worried about Vash that she was hearing things. Her own pragmatic way of thinking arrived at the plausible conclusion that she was hallucinating as the voice again giggled.

"Don't worry, Meryl. You're not losing it. I am here to talk to you."

Now quite intrigued, Meryl inquired, "Who are you?" She then gasped further amazed by the vision that appeared, a bright light as an aura around a beautiful woman clad in shining white with long raven hair.

"I am Rem Severem, Vash's guardian. I know he told you all about me." The woman smiled a warm smile as she went on, "and I know you are worried about him but fret not, for he is on his way back to you."

"I see," Meryl responded slowly trying to comprehend that she was carrying on an actual conversation with an apparition and hoping that nobody else was witnessing her cracking up.

Rem laughed again as she reassured the surprised short girl, "Relax Meryl. I assure you, you are not insane. I really am here to speak to you."

Meryl's eyes remained wide periwinkle pools as she stammered, "B-but h-how do you know me?"

"From Vash, where else?" At her bemused expression Rem continued, "We have a very deep connection, Vash and me and I know that he holds a very deep regard for you."

Meryl blushed as she remembered the passionate kiss they had shared the night before he left. She sputtered in denial, "I-it's not really like that. I-I mean we, that is he---,"

Rem's chuckle sounded like a wind chime in the evening breeze. "Oh Meryl, you can't hide your feelings from me. I can see into both your and Vash's hearts and I see that each of you have homes in the other's."

Her expression sobered as she went on, "And so I'm here to tell you what you must do when he returns."

Meryl sighed as she said, "So he survived his confrontation with Knives."

Rem nodded as she answered, "Yes he did. And he has been told what he must do next and now I will tell you what you must do."

"Me?" the insurance girl was incredulous. "Why me?"

Rem smiled as she replied, "Because nobody since I left him on the escape pod 130 years ago has cared for him or supported him as I've seen you do."

"I've done nothing really," Meryl admitted shyly.

"Oh yes you have," Rem insisted. "You've given him much hope for what he has longed for, a future of peace and love."

Meryl lowered her head and became nonplussed as she disparaged, "Please don't give me any credit, he was my assignment. As a Bernardelli Insurance Society disaster liaison I was just doing my job." She glanced up and was pinned by a steady sable gaze illuminated with a spirit light that held her immobilized.

"Have you spent as much time or care with any of your past 'assignments'?" Rem wanted to know her gaze steady.

The glowing orbs unnerved Meryl. "No," she admitted. And it was true, she had become so involved with her job, following the man known as the Humanoid Typhoon to see if he truly had lived up to his reputation as a vicious gunslinger and notorious rake that it had bordered on obsession. Her friend Karen at the home office intimated as much. Many times he appeared as exactly that or as a bumbling buffoon that just annoyed her. But the more she followed him the more she saw the true Vash, the young man with the battered and scarred body and soul who carried a hidden pain and whose lone desire was to live a life defined by love and peace. And as she and Milly watched over and supported him, he in turn protected and watched out for them. What happened with the old couple and their son in Promissory came to mind especially.

"Meryl," Rem said with a soft but firm tone, shattering her reverie. "Surely you can see, for the situation is obvious. You must help Vash to stay focused on the light so he can in turn guide Knives there. Because it is you that he now needs."

Meryl blinked her eyes in disbelief and a sense of awe came over her as she continued to listen raptly to the wraith that was Rem Severem.

"Meryl, Vash has always craved acceptance and love. When he and Knives were small and on the SEEDs ship with all of us they both were like sponges, absorbing everything both good and evil. I did what I could to show them both the good but unfortunately I was not the only influence on them. The fact that they were Plants and not human made them different and there was one on the ship that acted out of his hate born of fear from the different. It was at his hands that the hatred was born that Knives used to wield against humans and his own brother Vash becauseVash refused to believe the evil that the human heart is capable of holding, the evil he had experienced at Steve's hand. All this time Knives wanted to prove that his view was the truth to his brother but it is now Vash's turn to prove to Knives that it is _his_ view that is the truth. And he cannot do it alone."

"I see," Meryl said as she mulled over what she had just been told.

Rem came closer as she stated, "Meryl, you've done much to carry on where I left off with Vash. I've watched as you protected him, nurtured him and in many ways guided him. It's no mistake that you spoke my same words as you kept that man from killing him. I know that deeply touched Vash's heart and as usual he had a hard time expressing that to you."

Meryl sniffed, "That's for sure." She still remembered vividly after the incident in question how he hugged her tight, swung her around and then nuzzled her with his cheek, his ten-day growth of stubble scrapping her skin as he giddily expressed his joy. She smirked as she recalled calling him a big ape and bopping him on the head so he would let her go, one of many times she let him have it for one reason or another.

Rem giggled as she read the small woman's mind. "Vash has always been a happy-go-lucky type, Meryl, and very innocent. He also always had a sweetness of spirit that made him trust implicitly but he has always had a hard time showing his true feelings. That's why he's always flirted, he figured that if he was too forward, most women would stay away. But when he met you, it was different."

"Different?" Meryl inquired with a dubious look.

"Yes. He saw in you what my favorite flower, the geranium represented, determination and courage. And so he was drawn to that."

Meryl sighed as she asked, "If that's so, then why did he continuously ditch me? Milly and me would catch up to him just to have him leave so we'd have to chase after him again. It got a bit tiresome." She answered her own question by saying, "But I guess he wanted to keep us out of danger, especially after the Fifth Moon incident."

She then remembered that time he faced Dominique the Cyclops and how afterward he told her that they could not travel together. When she asked why, Vash's answer was that he could say nothing or endanger their lives. He disappeared for two weeks and then and the huge explosion that took place in the ruins of the town that was once Augusta and how afterward the crater on the Fifth Moon appeared. Right after that, Vash disappeared without a trace, declared by Bernardelli as the first human disaster. She had figured on never seeing him again so she and Milly went back to the home office and resumed a normal life. Until one day when the chief again sent them off after hearing reports of more destruction allegedly caused by the Humanoid Typhoon and so strangely elated she grabbed her pink suitcase and headed off again after him.

Rem smiled as she said, "Everything that happened Meryl, happened for a reason. Yours and Vash's paths are irrevocably linked and so now you must prepare for the journey will not be a smooth one. When Knives awakens, he will still be convinced that all humans are like Steve and therefore worthless garbage. But you can help Vash change his mind."

"How?"

"By continuing to be an example of the good in humans. By showing them both that we are able to be compassionate, and caring. Vash knows this but he can't change Knives opinion alone, he needs you and your lovely partner Milly to help him do it. And he'll need you especially for moral support."

Meryl watched as the vision of Rem began to dissipate. She jumped to her feet, so many other questions still on her lips but the apparition vanished with one last word.

"If you keep your vision clear, you can see the future. What you do with that future is your responsibility." The words faded off on the night breeze and Meryl found herself gazing once more up at the fifth moon and the crater blasted there as she sat and contemplated the meaning behind the words spoken by the one person that Vash loved more than anything.

The moons were well over to the western sky before Meryl rose and made her way down the cliff and back to the house her purpose now clear. . . .

About 25 iles away from the village, Vash the Stampede walked slowly, his twin sibling's unconscious form draped over his shoulder, two shadows trudging across the desert floor with the occasional tumbleweed brushing past. He calculated that the trip on foot would take approximately two and a half days, placing him at the town's limits at the close of the third day, which would ensure their arrival would be under the cover of night. This was the best plan as he figured wisely that to maintain a low profile would be the best route as considering the reaction from those townspeople who tied him to their truck and dragged him upon seeing him, they probably would be as hostile or even more. He moved forward, forging ahead as he traveled the long journey home, or what he now considered home, the little house he had shared with his short girl and her tall partner. His mind idly pondered on what the girls' reactions would be once he returned with Knives and about what they would do with him once there. He frowned as he pictured the irate townsfolk reacting and attacking Meryl and Milly then began to question his wisdom at returning but realized Knives needed to recuperate and they had no place else to go.

Sighing, Vash stopped to give himself a break and placed Knives on the sandy ground, laying his limp form down as he took a deep breath and flexed his sore shoulders. Inadvertently, his eyes gazed upward and came in contact with the fifth moon and the telltale ellipse that marred its bright pink surface and guilt inundated him.

Vash sighed as he spoke aloud, "Every time I see that hole, I can't help remembering how it got there." He then glanced down at his brother and added bitterly, "All because of your cause and your overzealous servant Legato's henchman Rai Dei the Blade coming after me."

He knelt down and continued, "Knives, I really hope that you can achieve redemption and change your view. Because I won't allow you to continue to try to wipe out mankind, and I will stop you, using any means necessary. That's a promise, brother."

Vash made to rise and did a double take when he thought he heard derisive laughter in response, but Knives' face remained expressionless as he was still in his unconscious state. He shook his head as he glanced and saw that the wind was whistling through the dead branches of some trees and chuckled as he ascertained that he had heard wrong. But deciding that they should be moving along again, he hoisted the Plant that was his twin on his shoulders and continued their trek in the moons' light.

………………………………………………….

Three days later…..

It was about an hour before suns set bringing another day to a close, bathing the town square in the orange rays of the twin orbs heading below the horizon. The town was still in a festive mode, still celebrating the discovery of what equated a mother lode, an aquatic boone that was still gushing at the center of town. The water was still falling down like a bubbling fountain into a moat that had been dug around the well to capture the overrun and then send it to the water processing plant for distribution throughout the town. The geyser reflected the golden light of the dying day as music and laughter echoed from the saloon located adjacent to it on the right.

At the saloon door, there was amidst the laughter and clinking glasses the sound of an amorous patron with a few too many under his belt and the feminine protest at his aggressive advances.

"Awww, c'mon, baby. All I wan' is a li'l kiss," the large and inebriated man asked the petite waitress with the cropped midnight tresses as she passed the tray of drinks to a table of gents deep into a poker game. He followed like an eager puppy as Meryl balanced the tray and served the table.

She did her best to ignore him as she finished up her task, the last before the end of her shift but the would-be lothario was persistent although quite bombed. As she completed serving the table he grabbed her derriere and pinched, eliciting a squeal from her before she meted out a suitably violent response. She took her tray and bludgeoned him on the crown, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Yeee-oww!" he screeched as he rubbed the offended part. Getting annoyed he demanded, "What the hell'd ya do that for?"

Meryl snapped, "Because I'm not a damned loaf of bread, you pig! Keep your grimy paws to yourself." She flounced over to the bar but the man grabbed her arm.

"What do you think, getting' all high and mighty," the drunk snarled as he used his brute strength to detain her. "You're just a slut pushin' drinks and I'm gonna--,"

"You're gonna what?" the bartender, a burly and handsome man named Scott intoned, his blue eyes blazing cobalt as he leaped over the bar and came to Meryl's defense. He was Vash's height and towered over the drunk a good three inches.

The drunk, emboldened by his besotted state glared at Scott as he countered, "Who asked you to butt in?"

Scott grinned unpleasantly as he said, "Nobody, but it's my duty to make sure my employees aren't harassed while trying to do their jobs. So I'm asking you once to get out of here."

"Oh yeah? And what if I tell ya to go to hell?" the drunk asked belligerently.

Scott did not flinch as he said, "Oh just this."

With blinding speed he grabbed the man by the throat in a half Nelson and turning him around planted his knee in the small of the back and kicked the man out of the swinging doors of the saloon. The momentum took the drunk out of the establishment and landed him into the drinking trough with a splash, frightening several tomases taking in water. The man, seeing he was outclassed got up and took off in a dead run as Meryl and Scott both came out.

She took a deep breath and gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Scott. That guy was bothering me all day and I thought I was going to have a hard time getting rid of him."

Scott grinned back as he said, "Think nothing of it, Meryl. Just taking care of one of my best workers. And by the way, give my regards to Milly, okay?"

Meryl smiled in understanding, seeing that her bromidic and statuesque friend had made another conquest. Since her work on the crew in striking pay dirt with the new well, Milly had been getting plenty of attention from the men in town to which she was oblivious, still missing Wolfwood terribly.

"I will," she promised. "Thanks again and see you tomorrow."

She stepped onto the street and began the trek back to the little house, her mind wandering as she strolled along. And as usual, her mind went to a tow-headed goofball who used his buffoonery as a smokescreen to hide the complex person he really was, a man with a sense of righteousness that displayed itself a sweet and gentle spirit. Meryl sighed as for the umpteenth time that day she thought of Vash and wondered where he was. Even though it was now nearly a week since he left, she remembered what Rem's spirit said and clung to that as if to a lifeline, knowing and admitting deep down how much she loved the Humanoid Typhoon.

The diminutive insurance girl arrived at the little house, located just at the outskirts of town and turned to stare at the setting suns, the western horizon stretched directly ahead of her as the flat desert landscape seemed to go on forever. Her eyes blurred as the tears came again and seeing she was alone she sank down on the steps of the porch to cry. . . .

Out in the desert, about five iles away, Vash was walking, his mind numbed to all but one thing, that soon he would be at the town he had called home. His eyes focused ahead and in the distance he saw the outline of the dwellings and other flat roofed buildings of the peaceful little town. His heart became light as he realized he would be back at the little house that he had shared with his insurance girl and her partner in just a few hours.

Thinking about Meryl, Vash smiled and balancing the supine form of his twin with one arm, with the other he reached inside his brown life suit, drawing out what had become his talisman, the lacy pink handkerchief that the short girl had given him in New Oregon after he had been beaten up by the grief stricken member of the Polo family. The man had been in a rage bent on killing the murderer of his daughter and Vash stepped in to stop him, getting himself pummeled in the bargain. Meryl and Milly had spirited him away out of town to avoid the law and as he sat there dazed, Meryl had handed him the handkerchief to wipe his face as she sat on the sand dune beside him. Her act of kindness had confused him as in the past all she had shown him was veiled contempt with occasional moments of warmth as she supported and even protected him. Yet he was gladdened by her gesture and when she was not looking, he slipped the token away as a keepsake.

Still smiling Vash held the hanky to his nose and breathed deeply the soft scent of lavender, and eyes the color of the same flower came to mind. He then remembered with fondness the kiss they had shared the night before he left and wondered what she was doing at that moment so he then tried to read into her mind, using his Plant ability of telepathy as the suns sank lower and the night approached. His smile then faded and his heart constricted as he discovered she was crying, and became amazed to see it was because she missed him.

His own sea foam eyes welling up, Vash yearned to ease Meryl's distress by sending her a message. . . .

Back at the house, Meryl was still in tears as her heart ached with missing Vash and so she was attributing it to her own despair when she heard his voice speak.

_Dry your eyes, short girl. I'm almost home._

_Vash?_ she asked uncertainly as she sniffled. _Is that really you?_

_Yeah, it's me. Get ready for the conquering hero, Meryl. And I'm not alone._

"Vash, what do you mean you're not alone," Meryl said aloud just as Milly was coming home and heard what she had said. She looked at her friend then glanced around as she inquired.

"Did you just talk to Mr. Vash, Meryl? Is he back? I told you he would be," she chattered as she smiled and called out, "Yoo hoo! Mr. Vash!"

Milly," Meryl said patiently. "Vash isn't here, I was just talking to him in absentia." At the tall girl's dubious expression she chuckled and said, "Relax, Milly I'm not cracking up, I just was thinking out loud."

"Oh I know, Meryl." She leaned in with a confidential wink. "Nicholas talks to me all the time, especially when I really miss him. I'm sure Mr. Vash will be back before you know it."

Meryl mused over the simple but cheery statement and said to herself _I hope you're right, Milly I really do._ She smiled as she rose to her feet and said crisply, "Well, I'd better go shower and change, I'm still in my uniform and I smell like a brewery." She headed in and Milly followed. . . .

At about 10:30, the door opened and Meryl stepped out on the porch, freshly showered and changed into a white oversized button down blouse over her shorts, the clothes she usually slept in. Pensive and restless, she perched on the top step and cast her gaze skyward, noticing that the fifth moon was almost directly above casting its pink glow down on the street and turning the water gushing from the well into rose quartz. She got up and went over to the gurgling fountain to watch as it captured the moons' light and let her thoughts, like the water run free. Meryl sighed deeply and began to hum the tune that she had sung the night she joined Vash on the cliff.

Lost in the memory, her mezzo voice then sang the verse softly as the water bubbled and the wind moaned accompanying her, and then a familiar low tenor joined in, causing her to become startled. She whirled around and then blinked her eyes in disbelief as she saw two shadows approach her from the edge of the street that led out to the desert. One was being carried, limply hanging on the shoulder of the other and as the fifth moon darted out from the cover of a passing cloud it shone on the spiked golden head of the tall and lanky figure of none other than Vash the Stampede.

Meryl held her breath as she turned and headed slowly to meet him, her eyes unwaveringly drinking in the sight of him as he gave her a smile, his eyes crinkled and glowing in soft aqua pools as he came to a stop right before her. He spoke a simple declaration in a gentle tone.

"I'm home."

She smiled as her eyes sparkled with unshed tears of joy and she answered in a near whisper, "Welcome home."

With no further word, they headed toward the house they called home.

**END**


End file.
